Just like the cat in Mud’s 1974 chart success, the world premiere of Blockbuster The Musical crept quietly into Dartford and revived the golden era of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman’s hit factory.

To most youngsters those two names will mean very little but they will probably be au fait with such party songs from the likes of Mud, Sweet, Suzie Quatro, Smokie and Tina Turner, which dominated the charts in the 70s and 80s.

It was quite a feather in the Orchard’s cap that it was chosen to kick off the tour of Blockbuster – named after the song that was a big hit in 1973 for the shaggy-haired Sweet – starring Paul Nicholas and Suzanne Shaw.

Like most jukebox musicals there is an easy-to-follow and somewhat slender plot woven around the songs. But that never did the likes of Mamma Mia! any harm.

It opens with Mickey Block – played by Aaron Sidwell, best known as Steven Beale in EastEnders – busking outside London’s Leicester Square Tube in the present before he flees loan sharks and finds refuge in Crazy Max’s retro record shop.

Max, a raspy-voiced Nicholas in a cowboy hat, possesses mystical and magical powers which enabled him to conjure Elvis, Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly from the woodwork.

After hiding in a cupboard Mickey is transported Tardis-like to Ealing College in 1972 under orders from Max to carry out two good deeds before he returns to 2014. No wonder producer-director Nicholas, now a stately 68, has described it as Grease meets Back to the Future.

Mickey is befriended by Carol (Suzanne Shaw), who sings in a college band, and he falls in love with another student (Aimie Atkinson), leaving him with a big dilemma. You can imagine the rest.

Along the way the Chinnichap hits keep tumbling out with some tenuous links. Hey Mickey, circa 1982, is an obvious one. Nicholas in his dual role as Paul wants to become more than just good friends with neighbour Alice (Louise English) - a blinding cue for Smokie’s Living Next Door To Alice.

Another character, the philandering Willy (Lee Honey-Jones), is nailed on somewhat paradoxically for Sweet’s Little Willy.

Shaw, who won the X-Factor of its day Popstars and went on chart with Hear’Say, belts out Quatro rockers such as Devil Gate Drive and If You Can’t Give me Love and Sidwell reveals a singing talent which could mean a bright future in the music business.

Nicholas, forever known for his role as Vince in Just Good Friends, proves he can still hold a tune having carved out his own pop career in the 70s with hits Reggae Like It Used To Be, Dancing with the Captain and Grandma’s Party.

Whether this show makes it into the West End remains to be seen but it is bound to a crowd-pleaser for family audiences as it wends its way around the country.

Blockbuster The musical is at the Orchard Theatre until Saturday, September 20. Visit www.orchardtheatre.co.uk.